Published 11:10 pm, Friday, May 9, 2014

Nika, a 10-year female German shepherd mix, is resting comfortably at the Shoreline Veterinary Emergency Hospital in Shelton after she was shot trying to defend her master during Wednesday's shooting on Sioux Drive.

When police arrived, Lori Gellatly, the estranged wife of accused shooter Scott Gellatly, was already dead. Merry Jackson, Lori Gellatly's mother, was seriously injured when a bullet pierced an eye. And Nika was lying near the two bodies, whimpering.

"I got the call from our animal control officer that the dog was in pretty bad shape," First Selectman George Temple said Friday. "That dog got shot trying to protect its master."

The dog was found yelping in pain, Temple said.

"That noise may have scared the shooter away," he said. "It may have saved the children."

Gellatly's twin 18-month-old toddlers, Lilly and Noah, were asleep in another section of the house when the shooting occurred.

"I wasn't going to let that dog die," Temple said. "How could I let that dog die? To me, that dog is a hero."

Temple told the officer to do whatever necessary to save the dog's life. Nika was rushed to Shoreline, the closest emergency animal hospital, and surgery removed a bullet from her abdomen.

"I'm probably going to take a lot of heat for this, but I told them the town will pick up the tab," he said.

He expects the dog's medical costs to be in the $8,000 range.

"I haven't talked to anyone in town that isn't heartbroken over the shootings," Temple said. "Things like that just don't happen in Oxford. We'll do a fundraiser for the family."

He said anyone interested can send donations to the Jackson Family Fund or for Nika's medical bills to the First Selectman's Office, Oxford Town Hall, 486 Oxford Road, Oxford, CT 06478.

He also said checks made payable to the Jackson Family Fund can be sent to the Oxford Ambulance Association, 484 Oxford Road, Oxford, CT 06478.

"People saw news photos of our ambulance on the scene and asked how they could help," Schwab said. "So we set up this website."

As of late Friday $1,475 had been donated.

Gellatly appeared briefly in state Superior Court in Derby on Thursday. Judge Karen Sequino set his bond at more than $2 million, ordered a mental health and suicide evaluation and transferred the case to state Superior Court in Milford. He will appear there on Tuesday.